Snow-plow attachment



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S d d 0 M nu m No. 505,950. Patented Oct. 3, 1893.

W/TNESSES:

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SNOW PLOW ATTACHMENT.

No. 505,960, K Patented Oct. 3, 1893.

m I, \\r`\\\ di@ 'gi UNITED STATES PATENT. QEETEE.

NEIL McKAY, or PATERsON, NEw JERSEY, AssIeNOR To CHARLES H. Oris,

OE BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

SNOW-PLOW ATTACHMENT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of vLetters Patent No. 505,950, dated October 3, I893.

Application tiled September 21, 1892. Serial No. 446,376. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom it may concern..-

Be it known that l, NEIL MCKAY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Paterson, Passaic county, New Jersey, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Snow-Plow Attachments, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,in which- Figure l is a side elevation, partially in section and with the wheels on the near side removed to clearly show other parts, these parts being shown in operative position. Fig. 2 is a slmilar View showing my plow-attachment and ice-cutter raised out of contact, or in an lnoperative position. Fig. 3 is a plan View of the same, parts being broken away. Fig. 3a 1s a detail top-view of the cam mechanism. Flgs. 3b and 3 are detail views of the butt- ]oint. Fig. 4 is a rear view of the flanger. Fig. 5 is an enlarged side view, partly in sect1on (and with the near wheel removed) of the device for cutting ice from the rails. Fig. 6 is a detail front view of one side of the ice cutting mechanism with the wheel and track. Flg. 7 is a side view in detail of the cam-mechanlsm. Fig. 8 is another side View of the same, showing the latch e4 out of engagement. Fig. 9 is a detail horizontal section through a truck-Wheel and posts showing the relation of the scraping blade and cutter to the rail and wheel. Fig. 10 is a detail Vertical section through a truck-axle showing the means of securing the cutter section D to the axle.

My invention relates to new and useful improvements in snow-plow attachments, and consists in the novel arrangement and combination of parts hereinafter described and specifically pointed out in the claims.

.The main object of this invention is to provide a new and useful means for removing ice from the 'inner sides of rails, behind a suitable snow-plow, so that the flanges of the truck-wheels shall not meetY with or ride on any ice that would otherwise adhere to the rails in spite of the action of an operative snow-plow in front. But the invention is also applicable without a snow-plow.

Another object is to trim the tops of rails of any adhering ice.

Another object of my invention is to provide a Hanger for removing any snow from between the rails which might have remained in place after the regular snow-plow has done its Work for automatically raising this langer out of contact with the snow or ice when an obstruction is encountered on the rail by the ice cutter in front, thus avoiding danger by breakage.

My improved attachments maybe mounted on an ordinary car and used in connec- 6c tion with any suitable snow-plow, the ice-cutter being placed preferably in front of the front wheels of the truck and the anger preferably placed between the trucks and in the rear of the ice-cutter.

In the accompanying drawingsAdesignates the liooringn of a car to which my improve-` ments are applied and which are supported in any suitable manner, as by trucks a in general use. 7o

The ice-cutter whose purpose is to slice olf any snow or ice that may adhere to the inner edges of the rails, consists mainly. of an icecutter-bar B, which is provided at its lower end' with an upright cutter b for the purpose 75 of cutting the ice'from the inner face of the rail in front of the liange of the wheel. The cutter-bar B, for the purpose of also scraping snow and ice from the top of the rail, can also be provided with an outwardly project- 8o ing horizontal scraper b2 which by preference is removably attached to the cutter bar B, so that it may be removed and replaced by new pieces when worn out. It may here be observed that the upper portion of the scraper b2 is curved outward as in Figs. 5 and 9, so as to throw the ice', risc., scraped from the rails, up and out to the outer side of the track.

The cutter bar B, carrying the upright cutter b and the scraper b2 is pivoted at `b to the 9o front section C of the ice-,cutter frame which is pivotally supported bythe axle c of the front wheels of the truck in any suitable manner.

The rear section D Of the icecutter-frame is pivotally suspended (see Fig. 10) from the rear truck-axle d. The front and rear icecutterV frame sections C and D are pivoted together as at c so as to form a butt-joint as shown in Figs 3b andc. I preferablymake Ioo the section D vertically adj ust-able on' vthe axle d (see Fig'. 10) by means of the screwbolts d formed on the yoke cl2 that embraces the axle d or by any other suitable means. The purpose of this adjustment is, that when the socket cZ of the front section C wears on the front axle c and thereby lowers the cutter-bar B with its cutters, it will not be necessary to remove the said socket c2, which would cause much delay and trouble, but the end D of the cutter frame section can be lowered sufficiently to raise the cutter-bar B the desired height, and thus compensate for the wear on the supporting parts. The upper end of the cutter-bar B is connected by a pivot e to a spring-pressed rod b3 which operates within the casing b4 rigidly attached to and carried on the forward cutter frame section C. It will be observed that by this construction the cutter-bar B is normally held in a substantially vertical position, the coil-spring h5 exerting a pressure against a disk carried on the rear end of the rod b3.

As far as described the parts are duplicated on the machine, so that there is a cutter-bar B above the inner face of each rail, both adapted to shave the ice from the inner sides of said rails. The two cutter-bars B B may be braced and protected from lateral displacement by a bar h6 which extends between them from one to the other. Connected to this brace h6 may be attached a rod or chain (not shown) which extends up into the cab or car and which may be controlled by suitable mechanism to raise and lower it, thereby raising or lowering both cutter bars B out and into contact or out and into operative position.

The pivot or bolt e is connected by a rod e with an arm e2 loosely carried on a shaft e3 whose bearings are in the frame of the truck. To this arm e2 is also attached a latch e4 which when the cutter-bar B is in a normal position will engage a cam f rigidly attached to the shaft e3, as clearly shown in Fig. 5. Extending from this shaft e3 and also rigidly attached thereto is the crank-arm e which crank-arm is in its turn connected to a link e7. This link e7 is joined by a connecting rod e5 to a lever E, so that the pivotal point between e7 and e5 will be in the center of the truck when the parts are in operative position, thus allowing the truck to assume any angle in turning curves, dac., without detriment to the mechanism employed. The shaft e3 is or may be loosely hung in a downwardly extending bracket F projecting from the car-platform. The bracket F is also provided with a stationary cam f', which cam may also, if desired, form one of the bearings for the shaft e3. This cam f I term the riding cam. Its object is to raise the latch e4 out of engagement with the cam f at a certain predetermined point, and allow the loosely carried arm e2 to travel a considerable distance in` sheet metal and in general contruction is somewhat similar to the auxiliary plows now used; that-is, it is made substantially V- shaped, and is provided with concave faces. This danger is located between the trucks of the car. At the point of this Hanger is a rnetallic cutting edge g,l|"ig. l, made considerably heavier than the body of the sheet metal iianger. On the nose of the flanger are located heavy cutting plates g with suitable means for removing the same, so that they may be replaced by new pieces when worn out and which also provide reinforcing means for the nose, as shown in Fig. 4. The rear half of the Hangeris provided with reinforcing plates g2 to better support the metal from the heavy pressure brought to bear on the danger atV this place, and in addition to these reinforcing plates g2 I deem it desirable to secure removable wearing plates g5 where the danger comes in contact with the rails.

Between the wearing plates g5 and the cntting plate g is secured a removable plate g4 which is made preferably of cast iron. This plate is located on the danger, so that one end thereof will be near the rail when the danger is down in an operative position, and each one extends toward the center of the track, when it reaches contact with the nose cutting plate g'. The object of this cast iron plate g4 is to clean` the snow from between the tracks, but should an obstruction too hard to cut through occur,.such as an inside rail or the like, the plate g4 would be broken 0E- without injury to the other parts, when a new one could be readily attached with little expense and delay. It will be observed that the rear upper edges gS of the ilanger are somewhat twisted or curved from the center` of the concave, whereby the snow when carried along the concave faces will be `forced out and up from the side of the danger and roadbed.

Near the rear end of the flanger G and extending from each side thereof is secured the bracebar H. At the center of this bar I-I is pivoted the link h which, it will be observed, allows the double movement of the Hanger, for purposes hereinafter described. This link h is in its turn pivotally secured to the lever I, which at I is pivoted to the car.

On each side of the lever I and rigidly attached to its pivot I are crank-arms I2 I3 which connect with pieces of chain tothe bar H.. At the upper edge of the forward portion of the danger is secured a link i which is supported at the other end to the bottom of the car or at any other desirable point. It

will be seen that by this particular arrange-` ment, I am enabled to exert a pressure on the Hanger through the lever I and at the same time allow one side of the flanger to rise slightly when an obstruction too great to cut through is reached, without the necessity of the opposite side rising with it. This construction is of great advantage in rounding curves where the rails at each side of the track are on different horizontal planes, sometimes there being a difference of six inches, and it will` be IIO ' ureexerted on both rails.

J designates a cylinder provided with a pistou and piston-rod]` and steam chest which is enteredfby a valve-rod j', the outer end of which valve-rod is secured to lever K by a link 7c and bell-crank lever 7c` or any other connection. The lever E is also suitably connected with the valve-rod j', as shown at j2.

The piston may be operated by any means, such as steam, compressed air, &c., which may be conveyed from any suitable source.

The operation of my improved attachments I will now proceed to describe as follows: kThe train is supposed to be moving in the direction of the arrow, with the attachments in operative position, as clearly shown in Fig. 1. When the ice-cutter b strikes an obstruction on the rail or at the side thereof, too hard to cut through, such as a frog or the like, the

'lower end of the cutter-bar will be thrown back, so as to ride over the obstruction, thereby elevating the Vforward end of the section O, since it is pivotally carried on the axle c. The other end of section C is lowered and the butt-joint between C and D opened as in Figs. 2 and 3C. At the same time the upper end of the cutter-bar B with the spring-pressed rod b3 and link e attached thereto is moved forward, thus communicating motion in the same direction to the arm e2 with its latch e4 (see Fig. 8). By this action the camf, which is rigidly se-v cured to the shaft e3 and has crank-arms e6 rigidly attached thereto, is-turn ed, and moves by the connections e7 and e5 the lever E, which serves to throw the valve of the cylinder J. This action of the valve in steam chest causes the piston to be forced outand thus to raise the anger G (Fig. 2) (by the level' I) loff the track, out of contact with the snow, and consequently out of all danger of the obstruction which originally lifted the ice-cutter b. As heretofore described, the latch e4 nominally engages the operating cam f until it reaches the stationary riding cam f', when it slides or rides thereon out of engagement with the cam f, and continues its movement forward as far as necessary (Fig. 8), the limit thereof being determined by the obstruction encountered or the backward throw of the ice-cutter When the ice-cutter b has passed over the obstruction, the spring b5 (which all this time has been compressedlforces out the rod b3, the cutter-bar B, link e and loosely mounted arm e2 carrying the latch e4, resume their normal positions, as shown in Fig. 5, and the upward pressure being relieved from the forward end of the cutter frame section C by the cutting-bar B regaining its normal position,

will allow the frame sections to regain their normal positions, as shown in Fig. 1. The arm e2 being loosely mounted on the shaft es, the movement back to normal position does not affect said shaft e3, and consequently does not affect the valve-controlling mechanism; so it will be seen that the ilanger G when once yraised to avoid the next obstruction.

. raised, remains-raised, until lowered by the y operator'through the lever K, link 'k and leverlk, which controls the valve' of the cylinder J. When the flanger Gis lowered through this means, the camf on the shaft e5 is again thrown back in .engagement with the latch e4 by the operation of the lever Eand link e5 connected to the crank-arms e6. Said Hanger G is then ready to operate as before or to be further be seen that by this construction the tlauger is only automatically raised, and that the ice-cutters after having passed the obstruction can continue to operate without the necessity of lowering the Hanger. I am also enabled by this construction to raise or lower the flanger entirely independent of the icecutters.

It will It is obvious that I may modify my constructions considerably in detail without departing from the spirit of myfinvention..

When the apparatus operates, the cutters b pare the ice from the inner sides of the rails, the cutters b2 pare it from the tops of the rails, and the flanger G throws out any snow left between the rails after the front truck has passed. lThe spring??5 gives ayielding pressure to the cutters, but permits them and the flanger to ride safely over any rigid obstruction.

Having described my invention, whatY I claim isl. The combination of the cutter barB with the jointed and pivoted sections C D, spring b5, cutter or cutters on said bar B and with a truck carrying said sections C D andV holding said spring, as specied.

2. The combination of the spring-pressed cutter-bar B, cutter b, and adjustable and movable frame sections C and D .pivotally twisted upwardly, substantially as described.

5. The combination of knuckle-jointed sections C D, cutter b pivotally mounted on one of said sections, said sections C and D being adapted to lock when `the cutter is in operative position and adapted to be opened when said cutter b is being forced out of operar tive position, substantially as described.

6. The combination of ice-cutter b', anger G, and an engine interposed substantially as described for automatically raising said flanger when the ice-cutter comes in contact with an obstruction and thereby sets the-engine into action, all as specified. I

7. The combination of ice-cutter b,flanger G, and an engine interposed substantially IZO as described for automatically raising said Y tact with au obstruction and mechanism substantially as described for reversing said engine and lowering said Hanger Gr independent of said ice-cutter b,substantially as described. e

8. The combination of the spring-pressed ice-cutter b', anger G and an engine interposed substantially as described for annomatically raising said Hanger G when the icero cutter b encounters au obstruction, and with mechanism substantially/as described whereby said spring-pressed ice-cutter automatically regains operative position independent; of said anger G, after the obstruction is passed, substantially as described.

NEIL MCKAY.

Witnesses:

HARRY M. TURK, CHAs. E. SMITH. 

